Notice anything different about our den?

Maybe a different angle will help.  :)  Check it out!

The last time you saw our den the back of the sofa was looking a little naked:

And that’s just inappropriate, so I had to do something about it.

The solution was a sofa table – I’ve wanted one forever, and had been looking for the perfect candidate for ages.  I almost jumped on a gorgeous one from West Elm, but in the end I realized that it’s dimensions were all wrong (too tall and not long enough).  So I eventually made my way back to Ikea’s Hemnes sofa table – and I’m so glad I did.

It’s been perfect! Or, at least, it is now.  :)

The first issue was entirely my fault – I got all the way to this point in putting it together . . .

. . . when I realized I did the very first step incorrectly. Boo!! Round 2 went much better. :)

The second issue was something that I anticipated from the start.  The one thing that I didn’t like about the Hemnes sofa table was the fact that it is divided into a jillion little compartments (which you can see here).  All of those little compartments were a problem because (a) I wanted the flexibility to store larger items in the table, and (b)  I didn’t want to be forced to use Ikea baskets and storage components since I didn’t want people to think “Ikea” the second they saw the sofa table.

So I decided not to install the two vertical dividers on the lower shelf.  I wasn’t worried about stability problems since there is a third divider that runs from the top to the bottom of the table, but I knew I’d have to camouflage the dowel holes for the missing dividers (you can see them in the photo below).  No worries, it was nothing that a few Q-tips and a little stain couldn’t fix!

(I didn’t include an “after” photo since it just looked like a piece of brown wood.  Exciting stuff.)

I’m totally digging having a console table behind our sofa.  Look, lamps!  What a luxury!

More places to put stuff!  An even bigger luxury!

( This is the first attempt at styling – nothing set in stone, we’ll see how it goes. )

I’m especially excited about having a place for baskets – they’re currently empty but I know they’ll come in handy once our little girl arrives in May (I don’t know if you’ve heard, but babies come with a lot of stuff).

(Ooh, and did you notice that the stars have made a new appearance?  I used this trick again for hanging them on our wood paneling.)

I also get to display lots of goodies that I’ve had stashed away for ages because I had nowhere to put them.  Like this antique box!  My mom collects them, and she gave me this particularly gorgeous one that has an intricate inlaid brass detail.

It’s great for storing all of my cords and connectors, girlie necessities like hair bands and Chapstick, and there’s even another compartment underneath that holds my camera and a tape measurer.  So handy!

Oh!  We also moved the secretary over to this previously-blank-spot by the kitchen.  I’m digging that I can drag the aluminum side table over there as a makeshift seat for writing notes, etc. – not that I’ve done that yet, but I could.  :)

Now that we’ve had the sofa table for a few weeks I can’t believe it took me over 3 years to add one to our den!  Have you recently added anything to your home that you’re kicking yourself for not thinking of sooner?